Showing posts with label Megan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Megan. Show all posts
Friday, 4 April 2014
Thursday, 3 April 2014
Megan's evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
To begin with, as a group, we needed to look up the definition of a 'thriller film' to understand how we could make our film match the key ideas of how other thriller films are made. 'A thriller is a film which is designed to keep the reader or viewer on edge with suspenseful and sensational action. Many people find thrillers very enjoyable, and they appreciate the fast pacing and complex plots associated with this genre.' However thriller films can come under many different sub-genres that define thriller for example mystery thriller, supernatural thriller or disaster thriller.' We decided to go for a crime thriller aspect to our story like Sherlock the TV programme. Crime Thrillers often focus more on the Antagonists actions in their lead up to their crime towards a Protagonist or in retrospect the ending of a film leading back to how is all started. Narrative is the way that stories are told and how meaning is constructed to the audience. This links in to Todorov's approach to narrative. He explains that if a story is in chronological order it will start with a equilibrium followed by some form of disruption which is later resolved and a resolution at the end. Because our film is in non-chronological order, we have the resolution of our film at the beginning where Graham Harvey has been taken in for questioning about the death of his daughter. However, afterwards we have a flashback to how the death occurred to Iona so the audience can find out and this links in to one of the many climax's show if it was a full length movie.
Pulp Fiction is an example of a film which is well known for its non linear story line. In the first two minutes of the opening of this thriller genre film the two main characters that we have met hold a robbery in the cafe they are in which then the film uses non-chronological order to show how this event occurred
In our thriller opening we use the same idea of using the action part of the movie first to grasp the audience more rather than loosing their interest with a slow starting opening. Once we've grasped their attention of the interview happening in the opening scenes, enigma will lure them into continuing to watch the film as it is a mystery to them about how this guy committed his crime and his reasoning behind it.
'Crime thrillers usually emphasis action over psychological aspects although there is a psychological aspect to this genre as well.' To create the concept of a psychology aspect we used a variety of techniques including camera work and mis en scene. Graham Harvey looks into the camera and grins to himself when asked about the murder of his daughter. This is the first recognition the audience may have to some physiological disorder that caused him to commit this crime and be smug about killing his own blood which isn't considered a normal thing in our society. The way he stares into the camera is as if he is connecting with the audience on a more intimate level and is staring right at us as he smiles as if he is showing everyone how 'proud' he is of himself.
Another character that does this is the child Ester from the thriller film, Orphan. Ester stares at the camera as a way of communicating with the audience through facial expressions which may be a use of dramatic irony. This is that through the characters facial expression we can tell they aren't good people and will be the antagonist of the plot however these facial expressions aren't directed towards the characters in the film and therefore they may not know what the character is capable off.
Another way that Ester and George Harvey is the way their voices come across to the audience. The way they use their tone of voice makes them seem scarier and more intimidating as it sounds cold.
Ester's voice in Orphan
'Central topics of Crime Thrillers include robberies, chases, serial killers and murders or double crosses' In our film we use the idea of a murder to create the theme of a Crime Theme genre. In the film 'The Silence of the Lambs' they use the crime thriller genre to show their plot line. 'A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.' Silence of the Lambs use the idea of a murderer to create their Crime Thriller movie.
We can usually tell who the Antagonist is by their choice of outfit which comes under mis en scene. A stereotypical view of a murderer would be that they are not happy with the way they are living and kill people to gain something in their life whether it be for money or because the adrenalin rush brings them a sense of enjoyment. In the silence of the lambs, the antagonist wears plain clothing to show he is nothing special and he seems to be a normal person that blends into the crowd rather than standing out.
In our film our antagonist also wears plain clothing however we used plain but dark clothing to insinuate something bad about him and is a stereotypical view of how audiences distinguish the good guy from the bad guy. This idea is used in many films and the use of dark clothing introduces the idea of iconography into our film as we associate black to be scary and creates the idea of darkness and something bad happening. In many films, antagonists wear black as a form of cover up and a way to mask themselves from others so people cannot identify who they are.
In films lighting is important because it helps to define the genre of the movie as well as make it a successful viewing experience for the audience. Certain lighting techniques are used as conventions for some films, for example using low key lighting in thriller films to produce dark shadows on screen, creating a sinister tone. Low key lighting is created be using the key and back lights which creates a sharp contrast between light and dark areas on the screen which creates sinister and dark tones. An example of this is in shutter island where they use dark and light tones to contrast each other in the shot to create a menacing tone. In the picture above showing Shutter Island, lighting is used to outline the face but it darkens out the background to create the sense of mystery and the darkness brings a more thriller sense to the scene, which is also another use of enigma. We use the idea of low key lighting to give the thriller effect and the darkness creates the sense of mystery which is what crime thrillers are based on. The low key lighting means we can control how the characters are revealed and creates a dangerous association with enigma through the shadows and dull shades.
A common technique used in Crime Thrillers is the use of flashbacks and fast pace editing. The flashback is used to help show the past, this gives an important insight into their past and shows an important message into why the character is how they are. We use flashbacks in our film opening to show how the lead up to Iona's death occurred. Another thriller film that uses flashbacks is The Butterfly Effect. This film uses flashbacks to show what happened in the guys past which led to the life which he leaves now to explain how different events can lead to different outcomes. Just like the butterfly effect, the flashbacks are done by using cuts and fades. We used fades to make it seem as if it the characters thoughts were going into a dream like state. The cuts were used for quick half a second shots that doesn't give the audience enough time to see what is happening. The flashbacks in our film are used together to piece the story together for the audience so that in the end the story will all come together but in a non-chronological way.
One way in which our thriller opening challenges the real conventions of media products is through our use of contrapuntal non-diegetic music. Rarely do thriller films use the sound of happy kind of music while showing the film but rather use non-diegetic music that is parallel to the events occurring on screen. We thought that by choosing the music we did for the opening titles it give the opening a more of an eerie feeling and also the music is sad as if one at a funeral which insinuates death. Most conventional films however use the idea of having the non-diegetic music to fit in with the genre of the film for iconography purposes and the audience can pick out the genre of the film straight away. The Butterfly effect uses the idea of nature in the opening titles however they use parallel music in the background that is used as an opposition to the butterflies in the background.
A thriller movie that matches this stereotype is 'scream' because the female is the stereotypical victim because she is home alone without 'a man to protect her.' And then a male is used as the protagonist that breaks into her house because this is more of a stereotypical thing that a male would do in traditional views.
However, by linking these two representative social groups together from our film we see that between masculinity and femininity we used the traditional views of the more dominant sex and we also used traditional views in the thought of ability is much more powerful than disability. Using these both together the audience may notice that Mr Robinson (the case investigator) is shown from a low angle at all time to make him seem bigger and more in power over Graham Harvey who is sitting down the whole time. This shows a type of food chain link where females are at the bottom and thought to be weaker, however ability males have much more control over disability males. i.e Mr Robinson has the most control followed by Graham Harvey and Iona has no dominance at all due to the traditional views.
However, because we are an independent film company we wouldn't have the money to advertise the film in cinema and on TV for cinematic/DVD releases and this therefore means we will have to start of by broadcasting our movie on TV's which is free for everyone to watch.
We used the Peal and Dean website to find films that will be similar to ours in ways of a target audience.
'Crime thrillers usually emphasis action over psychological aspects although there is a psychological aspect to this genre as well.' To create the concept of a psychology aspect we used a variety of techniques including camera work and mis en scene. Graham Harvey looks into the camera and grins to himself when asked about the murder of his daughter. This is the first recognition the audience may have to some physiological disorder that caused him to commit this crime and be smug about killing his own blood which isn't considered a normal thing in our society. The way he stares into the camera is as if he is connecting with the audience on a more intimate level and is staring right at us as he smiles as if he is showing everyone how 'proud' he is of himself.
Another character that does this is the child Ester from the thriller film, Orphan. Ester stares at the camera as a way of communicating with the audience through facial expressions which may be a use of dramatic irony. This is that through the characters facial expression we can tell they aren't good people and will be the antagonist of the plot however these facial expressions aren't directed towards the characters in the film and therefore they may not know what the character is capable off.Another way that Ester and George Harvey is the way their voices come across to the audience. The way they use their tone of voice makes them seem scarier and more intimidating as it sounds cold.
Ester's voice in Orphan
'Central topics of Crime Thrillers include robberies, chases, serial killers and murders or double crosses' In our film we use the idea of a murder to create the theme of a Crime Theme genre. In the film 'The Silence of the Lambs' they use the crime thriller genre to show their plot line. 'A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.' Silence of the Lambs use the idea of a murderer to create their Crime Thriller movie.
We can usually tell who the Antagonist is by their choice of outfit which comes under mis en scene. A stereotypical view of a murderer would be that they are not happy with the way they are living and kill people to gain something in their life whether it be for money or because the adrenalin rush brings them a sense of enjoyment. In the silence of the lambs, the antagonist wears plain clothing to show he is nothing special and he seems to be a normal person that blends into the crowd rather than standing out.
 |
| Scene from Shutter Island |
In films lighting is important because it helps to define the genre of the movie as well as make it a successful viewing experience for the audience. Certain lighting techniques are used as conventions for some films, for example using low key lighting in thriller films to produce dark shadows on screen, creating a sinister tone. Low key lighting is created be using the key and back lights which creates a sharp contrast between light and dark areas on the screen which creates sinister and dark tones. An example of this is in shutter island where they use dark and light tones to contrast each other in the shot to create a menacing tone. In the picture above showing Shutter Island, lighting is used to outline the face but it darkens out the background to create the sense of mystery and the darkness brings a more thriller sense to the scene, which is also another use of enigma. We use the idea of low key lighting to give the thriller effect and the darkness creates the sense of mystery which is what crime thrillers are based on. The low key lighting means we can control how the characters are revealed and creates a dangerous association with enigma through the shadows and dull shades.
A common technique used in Crime Thrillers is the use of flashbacks and fast pace editing. The flashback is used to help show the past, this gives an important insight into their past and shows an important message into why the character is how they are. We use flashbacks in our film opening to show how the lead up to Iona's death occurred. Another thriller film that uses flashbacks is The Butterfly Effect. This film uses flashbacks to show what happened in the guys past which led to the life which he leaves now to explain how different events can lead to different outcomes. Just like the butterfly effect, the flashbacks are done by using cuts and fades. We used fades to make it seem as if it the characters thoughts were going into a dream like state. The cuts were used for quick half a second shots that doesn't give the audience enough time to see what is happening. The flashbacks in our film are used together to piece the story together for the audience so that in the end the story will all come together but in a non-chronological way.
One way in which our thriller opening challenges the real conventions of media products is through our use of contrapuntal non-diegetic music. Rarely do thriller films use the sound of happy kind of music while showing the film but rather use non-diegetic music that is parallel to the events occurring on screen. We thought that by choosing the music we did for the opening titles it give the opening a more of an eerie feeling and also the music is sad as if one at a funeral which insinuates death. Most conventional films however use the idea of having the non-diegetic music to fit in with the genre of the film for iconography purposes and the audience can pick out the genre of the film straight away. The Butterfly effect uses the idea of nature in the opening titles however they use parallel music in the background that is used as an opposition to the butterflies in the background.
2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As mentioned when we decided our story line, our antagonist Graham Harvey is a paranoid schizophrenic which comes under the representation of ability/disability even though it is through mental disability rather than a physical disability. Using a mental disability in one of our characters can connect with our target age group of teenagers to the middle ages (15-45) Nowadays many teenagers are diagnosed with a mental disability, mostly being depression, which can effect their social lives and the way they act towards others around them.
Graham Harvey is showed to have some sort of mental difficulty through the use of medium shots and close ups to show his facial expression to be non responsive towards his daughters death which most others would be. His body language is lose rather than tensed up because he has no fear inside him for what he has done but is actually happy to tell the gruesome events that happened. This shows Graham Harvey to have no emotions inside of him which may be to do with his disorder or the medication that he has to take to it which can cause side-effects such as a 'split personality' . This is shown when he grins to himself and to the audience that he is more pleased with himself then he should be. We have also indicated that something may be wrong with Graham Harvey from our choice of non-diegetic music using contrapuntal sound which then because it doesn't match the events occurring on screen, it suggests something is wrong or has gone wrong which is symbolization of Mr Harvey doing wrong through mental disability because everything is not all okay (some things don't match up.) A stereotype of people with mental impairments is that they are crazy and to be kept away from. We've kept to this stereotype of someone like this because it's the traditional way of looking at mental disorders. However, nowadays people have become much more acceptable of mental disorders since medication for it has been put into place.
In our film we have used the stereotypical thoughts of masculinity vs femininity and whether female are now equals in acts of crimes in our favor. A traditional view of male against woman was that men are the stronger and more dominant sex compared to woman who are thought to be 'fragile and weak' As well as this, the stereotype between masculine and feminine jobs was that is was the woman's job to look after the children and men weren't to be trusted as much around children because of violence towards them. But now the rate of abuse of children by men and woman are around the same. Because of the traditional views of men being the dominant ones against woman we stuck to this stereotype by making the antagonist the male and the protagonist the female. A female is usually stereotyped as to being the opposite of the antagonist by being the victim. We used complete opposites in characters by using an older, much bulkier and stronger male against a young and small female to show dominance in the male character. The male character is in control of the struggle because he is the strongest. We are shown his dominance through camera work which a POV shot from a high angle so that Graham Harvey looking down on Iona because he is the dominant figure and has the most power.
Graham Harvey is showed to have some sort of mental difficulty through the use of medium shots and close ups to show his facial expression to be non responsive towards his daughters death which most others would be. His body language is lose rather than tensed up because he has no fear inside him for what he has done but is actually happy to tell the gruesome events that happened. This shows Graham Harvey to have no emotions inside of him which may be to do with his disorder or the medication that he has to take to it which can cause side-effects such as a 'split personality' . This is shown when he grins to himself and to the audience that he is more pleased with himself then he should be. We have also indicated that something may be wrong with Graham Harvey from our choice of non-diegetic music using contrapuntal sound which then because it doesn't match the events occurring on screen, it suggests something is wrong or has gone wrong which is symbolization of Mr Harvey doing wrong through mental disability because everything is not all okay (some things don't match up.) A stereotype of people with mental impairments is that they are crazy and to be kept away from. We've kept to this stereotype of someone like this because it's the traditional way of looking at mental disorders. However, nowadays people have become much more acceptable of mental disorders since medication for it has been put into place. |
| Masculinity VS Femininity |
In our film we have used the stereotypical thoughts of masculinity vs femininity and whether female are now equals in acts of crimes in our favor. A traditional view of male against woman was that men are the stronger and more dominant sex compared to woman who are thought to be 'fragile and weak' As well as this, the stereotype between masculine and feminine jobs was that is was the woman's job to look after the children and men weren't to be trusted as much around children because of violence towards them. But now the rate of abuse of children by men and woman are around the same. Because of the traditional views of men being the dominant ones against woman we stuck to this stereotype by making the antagonist the male and the protagonist the female. A female is usually stereotyped as to being the opposite of the antagonist by being the victim. We used complete opposites in characters by using an older, much bulkier and stronger male against a young and small female to show dominance in the male character. The male character is in control of the struggle because he is the strongest. We are shown his dominance through camera work which a POV shot from a high angle so that Graham Harvey looking down on Iona because he is the dominant figure and has the most power.  |
| Scream |
A thriller movie that matches this stereotype is 'scream' because the female is the stereotypical victim because she is home alone without 'a man to protect her.' And then a male is used as the protagonist that breaks into her house because this is more of a stereotypical thing that a male would do in traditional views.
However, by linking these two representative social groups together from our film we see that between masculinity and femininity we used the traditional views of the more dominant sex and we also used traditional views in the thought of ability is much more powerful than disability. Using these both together the audience may notice that Mr Robinson (the case investigator) is shown from a low angle at all time to make him seem bigger and more in power over Graham Harvey who is sitting down the whole time. This shows a type of food chain link where females are at the bottom and thought to be weaker, however ability males have much more control over disability males. i.e Mr Robinson has the most control followed by Graham Harvey and Iona has no dominance at all due to the traditional views.3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We would have produced our thriller film opening as an independent film company such as Vertigo Films which is a UK Film and Distribution company founded in 2002 , which means our budget is very small. Therefore the choices for where we can distribute our films are limited. A big film company like Warner Bros would firstly distribute their film into the cinemas which is a vital step for massive films because the first week of showing the film will make the highest box office and is very important if the film is going to keep being watched throughout the next couple of weeks in cinema. After the film has been in cinema for a couple of weeks it will be released on DVD to make secondary revenue but is also a major time for synergy to occur between film producers and video game producers/fast food outlets etc that is an advantage for both the companies as it brings them both income.However, because we are an independent film company we wouldn't have the money to advertise the film in cinema and on TV for cinematic/DVD releases and this therefore means we will have to start of by broadcasting our movie on TV's which is free for everyone to watch.
We would mostly be distributing our film through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which would be much easier to reach our target audience of teenagers on online social networks. By sharing our product over Facebook and Twitter we can invite our friends to watch our film and if they enjoy it they can show their friends and so on. People will be commenting on our product frequently with what they like about our film and ways it can be improved if we were ever to make another film. By using Facebook we can also spread our product to a wider demographic group by meeting other companies and independent producers. By doing this we could broaden our contact list to use other independent film companies that may specialize in thriller films in the future. An example of this is ZOHAR films who are an independent film company which focuses on developing and distributing thriller films and TV series.
The main way we will be distributing our film is through YouTube. This is one of the best ways for independent film companies to share their products as the placement is free, and will therefore be no loss if the film in unsuccessful. YouTube is used by a huge demographic meaning that our film is able to be viewed by everyone, especially our target audience (teenagers-young adults) who use YouTube most frequently. filmindependent is a YouTube page based on posting films that are made from independent companies which has 6,000 subscribers. If we were able to post our thriller onto this page it would gain a lot more publicity than if we did it independently.
YouTube is the third most popular website in the world, the film and TV arm of Google. YouTube is familiar, easy to use, and available on mobile devices, smart TVs, and even gaming consoles. YouTube offers the chance to reach a worldwide audience of thousands, even millions, while earning sums of money. YouTube’s algorithms are connecting us with a global audience channel surfing for movies. Most viewers aren't searching for a film by name but are just looking for a movie to watch which will come to our advantage if our film comes up.
YouTube is the third most popular website in the world, the film and TV arm of Google. YouTube is familiar, easy to use, and available on mobile devices, smart TVs, and even gaming consoles. YouTube offers the chance to reach a worldwide audience of thousands, even millions, while earning sums of money. YouTube’s algorithms are connecting us with a global audience channel surfing for movies. Most viewers aren't searching for a film by name but are just looking for a movie to watch which will come to our advantage if our film comes up.
Another positive aspect of sharing our film through YouTube is that we could make a small profit through advertising. When setting up an account we can choose whether we want to show the film with adverts. By adding advertisement to the film we can make money for each view we get even though it may be a small amount, it's more money than if we put it on free to watch channels.
Another way we could make a small profit is by distributing our film straight onto the XBOX dashboard. The Xbox is used mostly by our demographic age group and therefore would be most appealing to them if they can watch the film from the comfort of their own home rather than going to the cinema. This means our film would have been distributed straight into our target audiences hands. Films cost around 10 pounds to be viewed from the Xbox however this is cheaper for audiences to view than if they bought a cinema ticket.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our target age for our film is 15-34. We decided to go for this age group due to this demographic being able to connect to our characters on a more intimate level. If we picked any younger age group they would be too scared to watch it and would be inappropriate for their viewing due to the levels of violence that would be displayed in our film. People from an older generation may not enjoy the film as much due to the story line even though it does match their traditional views and therefore we wouldn't rule them out completely for watching our film.
We used the Peal and Dean website to find films that will be similar to ours in ways of a target audience.
Prisoners is a crime thriller that was released in September 2013. If someone was to enjoy the film prisoners then they would most likely enjoy our film Iona. This is due to our films having the same genre of CRIME THRILLER. Also, the story line of Prisoners is that 'A Boston man kidnaps the person he suspects is behind the disappearance of his young daughter and her best friend.' Which is quite a similar story line in the way that a man has the most power over 2 small females who are too young to take care off themselves and are very vulnerable. The age to view this film was 15-24 with the second age category at 25-34 which matches our target audience in the age category perfectly.
However, Prisoners is aimed more at the male gender rather than female with a 70%-30% ratio. And we would like our film to have more of a 50:50 split in gender.
The Purge: Anarchy is a thriller film due to be released in July 2014. This film has a more even split of gender of 45%-55% which is more what we are targeting for our film.
As well as this, The Purge also has a similar age percentage that we were aiming for however it is more focused on the age group 15-24 rather than 25-34 which we are aiming for.
We addressed our audience by age group by using characters that come under our target age group. We also used a mixture of male and female main characters to target our gender audience of 50:50.
The main representations that can be picked up in our film are ability/disability, age, and masculinity vs femininity.
Our age group may connect to Graham Harvey because of his mental disability which is a common thing nowadays for our age group of 15-34 to develop some sort of mental health problem throughout this time. However, because we used traditional views of mental disability we made Graham seem like he needed to be locked up because of his mental disability which isn't something that happens much nowadays except in extreme circumstances. From the narrative of the story, there is no reason for the audience to sympathize with Graham Harvey for what he did to his daughter. However, we used many camera angles that are from a high angle to make him seem smaller and weak then he really seems due to his mental disability bringing him down which many people can relate with. From this high angle camera angle it makes Graham seem really small as he only takes up a small proportion of the screen compared to Mr Robinson who seems much larger and therefore in control.
Iona is represented as a normal school girl in our opening. It is most likely that our target audience are or have attended school and needed to wear a uniform which can make a connection to our younger audience through her outfit choice. A school uniform can also make her seem much smaller and weaker and needs looking after which can make our audience sympathize for Iona. As well as this, females may connect with Iona more because they may feel like they have been a similar situation where by traditional views, males may get an advantage in society or are treated like they are more superior.
I was able to interview some people for an audience opinion on what in my film appealed to them and what could be improved. This is a film showing the opinions of one of my next door neighbors and she had two friends round. I got all 3 of them to watch the film and then write down something good about the film and something that could be improved in their own opinion.
Since posting our Prelim task in the middle of January we have learnt a lot more new techniques that has made our film to a higher quality standard. In our Prelim we used a lot of basic shots that were at a long shot or a medium shot that didn't add much variety too our film. Since then we have learnt a lot more about camera angles, tracking, panning etc that has made our film a much better and interesting film for the audience to watch. We have learnt that by using different shots can make a different effect on the audience and convey different meanings across for example using a low angle shot to show power.
In our preliminary task we didn't create a story around our plot shown which meant the characters had not much depth and didn't really relate to the audience in anyway except they are college students. However, with our film that we just completed we were able to create a background to the story that isn't shown in the plot line that gives the characters depth and a personality and describes from their past why they act the way they do in present time.
At the beginning of our prelim we white balanced everything to make the shots seem much clearer however once we change location we haven't white balanced the shot which makes the shot blurry and doesn't outline our faces very well. In our final film we concentrated more on outlining the faces so facial expressions are much clearer as they convey most of the feeling and emotion through the film and without these facial expressions we cannot see how the characters feel about the events occurring and therefore we can't emphasize with them.
In our preliminary task we were told to incorporate a match on action, 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot to make our film much more advanced in our camerawork. We have come on a long way from this stage by being able to incorporate these effects into our project to create some sort of effect to our film (i.e. suspense, conveying emotions) instead of just throwing these techniques in anywhere in our prelim.
We also used these long shot to medium shot to show Grahams Harvey s face properly for the first time so we can see his emotions about this investigation and this is the first indicator that he is the one getting interviewed and we can tell by the way he is hunched over that he may have committed the crime- which we don't know about at this point in time.
It is the moved back to a long shot which shows good continuity and makes it a easier transition between this shot and the next shot.
We took a lot more insight to focusing on our sound in our final piece than what we did in our Prelim. What we have learnt between the time of our prelim and now is the use of parallel and contrapuntal non diegetic music. In our prelim we stuck to the conventional use of thriller sounding noises in the background to make a more suspenseful feel. However, we have learned much more about thriller films since then and were able to use the idea of contrapuntal sounds into our film without ruining the thriller effect. This was able to be done by making the music sound happy while surrounding death that it makes the audience feel a bit freaked out.
I've finished all questions but it won't let me save it at the moment onto the blog , it just keeps saying it is loading
UPDATE - now I've had access to a library computer i was able to save all my other questions onto the blog after emailing them too myself.
However, Prisoners is aimed more at the male gender rather than female with a 70%-30% ratio. And we would like our film to have more of a 50:50 split in gender.
 |
| The Purge: Anarchy |
The Purge: Anarchy is a thriller film due to be released in July 2014. This film has a more even split of gender of 45%-55% which is more what we are targeting for our film.
As well as this, The Purge also has a similar age percentage that we were aiming for however it is more focused on the age group 15-24 rather than 25-34 which we are aiming for.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
 |
| Graham Harvey: late 20's Mr Robinson: earlier 20's |
We addressed our audience by age group by using characters that come under our target age group. We also used a mixture of male and female main characters to target our gender audience of 50:50.
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| Iona: aged 11 years old. |
Our age group may connect to Graham Harvey because of his mental disability which is a common thing nowadays for our age group of 15-34 to develop some sort of mental health problem throughout this time. However, because we used traditional views of mental disability we made Graham seem like he needed to be locked up because of his mental disability which isn't something that happens much nowadays except in extreme circumstances. From the narrative of the story, there is no reason for the audience to sympathize with Graham Harvey for what he did to his daughter. However, we used many camera angles that are from a high angle to make him seem smaller and weak then he really seems due to his mental disability bringing him down which many people can relate with. From this high angle camera angle it makes Graham seem really small as he only takes up a small proportion of the screen compared to Mr Robinson who seems much larger and therefore in control.Iona is represented as a normal school girl in our opening. It is most likely that our target audience are or have attended school and needed to wear a uniform which can make a connection to our younger audience through her outfit choice. A school uniform can also make her seem much smaller and weaker and needs looking after which can make our audience sympathize for Iona. As well as this, females may connect with Iona more because they may feel like they have been a similar situation where by traditional views, males may get an advantage in society or are treated like they are more superior.
I was able to interview some people for an audience opinion on what in my film appealed to them and what could be improved. This is a film showing the opinions of one of my next door neighbors and she had two friends round. I got all 3 of them to watch the film and then write down something good about the film and something that could be improved in their own opinion.
I also showed the film to my friend who is in Florida for a range of audience and to get a wider population to watch our film as well. 'I've been waiting for you to send this to me for ages! I like the story line, I think it can relate to people in some situations and I also like how it has traditional views but has a modern twist too it by the way the interview is carried out. However I think the use of contrapuntal music in the background could be changed as I'm not sure it fits in.'
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?
Since posting our Prelim task in the middle of January we have learnt a lot more new techniques that has made our film to a higher quality standard. In our Prelim we used a lot of basic shots that were at a long shot or a medium shot that didn't add much variety too our film. Since then we have learnt a lot more about camera angles, tracking, panning etc that has made our film a much better and interesting film for the audience to watch. We have learnt that by using different shots can make a different effect on the audience and convey different meanings across for example using a low angle shot to show power.At the beginning of our prelim we white balanced everything to make the shots seem much clearer however once we change location we haven't white balanced the shot which makes the shot blurry and doesn't outline our faces very well. In our final film we concentrated more on outlining the faces so facial expressions are much clearer as they convey most of the feeling and emotion through the film and without these facial expressions we cannot see how the characters feel about the events occurring and therefore we can't emphasize with them.
In our preliminary task we were told to incorporate a match on action, 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot to make our film much more advanced in our camerawork. We have come on a long way from this stage by being able to incorporate these effects into our project to create some sort of effect to our film (i.e. suspense, conveying emotions) instead of just throwing these techniques in anywhere in our prelim.
Prelim match on actionPrelim shot reverse shot
This match on action used at the beginning of our film is used for 2 different reasons. The first one is that as the camera shot goes from a long shot to a medium shot it makes the footsteps sound louder as we have got closer to the character which can create more suspense as if the inspector is coming towards us.
We also used these long shot to medium shot to show Grahams Harvey s face properly for the first time so we can see his emotions about this investigation and this is the first indicator that he is the one getting interviewed and we can tell by the way he is hunched over that he may have committed the crime- which we don't know about at this point in time.It is the moved back to a long shot which shows good continuity and makes it a easier transition between this shot and the next shot.
We took a lot more insight to focusing on our sound in our final piece than what we did in our Prelim. What we have learnt between the time of our prelim and now is the use of parallel and contrapuntal non diegetic music. In our prelim we stuck to the conventional use of thriller sounding noises in the background to make a more suspenseful feel. However, we have learned much more about thriller films since then and were able to use the idea of contrapuntal sounds into our film without ruining the thriller effect. This was able to be done by making the music sound happy while surrounding death that it makes the audience feel a bit freaked out.
I've finished all questions but it won't let me save it at the moment onto the blog , it just keeps saying it is loading
UPDATE - now I've had access to a library computer i was able to save all my other questions onto the blog after emailing them too myself.
Film opening titles
The Dark Knight Rises
- The opening title sequence for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ establishes an eerie and mysterious atmosphere. This is due to the pace of the non-diegetic soundtrack being played. Also, the colours in the opening only consist of black, white and grey, this again reinforces the intended atmosphere. They use flashes of red colouring to attract the audiences attention to this part of the screen.
- During this sequence we are introduced to some of the characters within the film indirectly, as we only see pictures of them due to the opening being as if it is a comic book sequence. We see the characters through the comic book before altering to seeing them properly in the film before fades and wipes are used to direct the comic book strip back onto the screen.
- The titles are included within the image and alter positions simultaneously with the camera movement.
- We are only able to guess what will happen in the film as we are not shown any of the plot during the title sequence opening.
- I like the way the title sequence is portrayed as if it is coming towards you and it makes the audience feel more involved and I also like how the action starts straight away rather than having a slow opening.
Pulp Fiction
- The opening titles sequence for ‘Pulp Fiction’ begins dramatically and surprisingly. As we meet some of the characters of the film and they instantly threaten with guns, establishing the genres of the film.
- The soundtrack used is fast paced and reveals the sub genre of action and crime.
- The titles are placed in the center of the screen in a bold white font, contrasting with the black background. I like the way how the title 'pulp fiction' fades into the background as the titles are then overlapped on top of it because it keeps the title in mind and more remembered.
- As the plot is not revealed the audience want to continue watching as the opening has caught their full attention.
- This title sequence is simple but effective because the background music makes it catchy and interesting
- Also I like the way of changing the music towards the end of the title sequence to make it sound like a radio track is being changed rather than the opening just cutting straight from one song to another.
Seven
- The opening sequence for the film ‘Se7en’ does not directly reveal any of the characters within the film.
- The soundtrack highly impacts the atmosphere created by it. It consists of an eerie continuous sound with occasional screeches, as the sequence progresses the music becomes louder and the tension builds.
- The titles move erratically creating a jumpy feel for the audience.
- The titles are white on a black background emphasizing the titles. The font of the titles are sharp and handwritten-like.
- The plot is not revealed to us and leaves the audience wanting to find out what will happen as we are given clues through the opening sequence.
- I like the way that each shot on the screen fades into each other so it's hard to make sense of any of the writing in the opening to base what the story line involves.
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Anamatic with Voiceover
This is our anamatic voiceover that is what our opening film will look like once it is completed
Megan
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| Anamatic Voiceover Scrpit |
Anamatic
We didn't upload our anamatic to begin with because of our location difficulties we needed to keep changing the drawings to match what our opening would consist off.
Even though we are still having technical difficulties with our lighting and behind on our editing because of this, our anamatic now matches what our thriller film will look like and can therefore be uploaded.
A couple of shots from the anamatic have been altered while we were filming because we felt these decisions were appropriate when we arrived at our location to make it as best as we possibly could.
-Megan
Even though we are still having technical difficulties with our lighting and behind on our editing because of this, our anamatic now matches what our thriller film will look like and can therefore be uploaded.
A couple of shots from the anamatic have been altered while we were filming because we felt these decisions were appropriate when we arrived at our location to make it as best as we possibly could.
-Megan
Editing sound
I'm in the media suite looking at different sound effects on garage band that need to be incorporated into our thriller opening to make it feel more dramatic.
We've decided we need the sound effects of:
We've decided we need the sound effects of:
- footsteps from our interviewer
- Scream from Iona as she is dragged away
- More dramatic sound of the door closing in the beginning scene
- We have thought about using contrapuntal music in the final scenes where the flashback shows Graham Harvey dragging Iona to create a different effect.
Megan
Monday, 10 March 2014
Filming Monday 10th March
Filming evidence
Today, we went up to Haywards Heath police station around 12:15 pm and were allocated to our interview room. However, too our disappointment, it wasn't as large as we were expecting. Having 5 of us in the room at one time made it very cramped and it wasn't possible to film long shots like we had anticipated in this room. Even though we were given the great opportunity of filming in there to make our film seem more realistic; we filmed a couple of shots and re-evaluated our ideas for an interview room.
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| Eye Through the Camera |
We came up with using the Pods at college. This was much more effective because it was a large space which is what we needed and also the lighting in there made the scene that bit more dramatic with spotlight lighting filling the room.
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| Police Interview Scene |
As you can see from these two short clips, the lighting in the pod really worked to our advantage by making the characters stand out against the black background. We filmed each shot a couple of times so that when it comes to editing we have a couple of takes to choose from. These two clips are rough copies of the scenes without the laughing or faces.
Megan
Filming Sunday 9th march
Filming evidence
On Sunday the 9th of March at around 6 pm we all ventured up to Goffs Park in crawley to film the flashbacks of our film. It took us about half an hour to film the 5 shots of Graham Harvey killing his victim, Iona.
We struggled with lighting at this time because we didn't expect it to get dark so quickly and without any lighting equipment we had to power through using the torches on our phones to give a shadow around their figures for the camera to pick them up in the dark. However, we will use editing equipment on the Macs to make the shots seem a bit lighter or we will have to re shoot some shots in the next couple of days.
Unfortunately due to the lighting being to dark to pick up on camera, we will need to reshoot these flash back scenes in order to create a well presented product.
Megan & Becky
Friday, 7 March 2014
Primary School Update
Unfortunatly we have had no reply from the school, an we do not have the time to waste looking for another primary school. we have chosen to cut the school scenes completely so we can get on with our filming.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
List of roles
Graham Harvey- Played by George
Graham Harvey is in his mid thirties who will be played by our actor George. Graham is being interviewed for the murder of his daughter, Iona. He is the antagonist of our movie, also referred to as the villain. This doesn't mean he is labelled as a 'bad person' as it's his mental disorder and not taking his medication that leads to this however he is the one causing the problems for the protagonist (Iona.) Graham is the character who drives the narrative forward through the choices he makes and the actions he takes.
Mr Robinson- Played by James
Mr Robinson is in his mid to late twenties played by our actor James. Mr Robinson is the interrogator in the interview room trying to get the information our of Graham Harvey. His and Grahams conversation in the interview room is what brings the narrative together and links the flashbacks into the 2 minute opening. Without Mr Robinson the shoots wouldn't come together as smoothly therefore Mr Robinson is a vital character in our plot.
Iona- Played by Iona
Iona is an 11 year old girl played by Iona. (The character is also her real name, as well as the film being named after her as she is the main character) Iona is Graham Harvey's daughter but is kidnapped by her and killed which is what the plot is all based around. We used Iona to play an 11 year old (which is her age) to create realism to the audience so they can sympathise with her and what she is going through. The way Iona will be portrayed will connote her as innocent through her actions and what she is wearing (school clothes) when being dragged through the woods to make her seem younger and much more fragile in this situation.
-Megan
Graham Harvey is in his mid thirties who will be played by our actor George. Graham is being interviewed for the murder of his daughter, Iona. He is the antagonist of our movie, also referred to as the villain. This doesn't mean he is labelled as a 'bad person' as it's his mental disorder and not taking his medication that leads to this however he is the one causing the problems for the protagonist (Iona.) Graham is the character who drives the narrative forward through the choices he makes and the actions he takes.
Mr Robinson- Played by James
Mr Robinson is in his mid to late twenties played by our actor James. Mr Robinson is the interrogator in the interview room trying to get the information our of Graham Harvey. His and Grahams conversation in the interview room is what brings the narrative together and links the flashbacks into the 2 minute opening. Without Mr Robinson the shoots wouldn't come together as smoothly therefore Mr Robinson is a vital character in our plot.
Iona- Played by Iona
Iona is an 11 year old girl played by Iona. (The character is also her real name, as well as the film being named after her as she is the main character) Iona is Graham Harvey's daughter but is kidnapped by her and killed which is what the plot is all based around. We used Iona to play an 11 year old (which is her age) to create realism to the audience so they can sympathise with her and what she is going through. The way Iona will be portrayed will connote her as innocent through her actions and what she is wearing (school clothes) when being dragged through the woods to make her seem younger and much more fragile in this situation.
-Megan
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Location problems
We are having problems in sorting out a suitable location at the moment for our thriller opening. We ruled Martlet Lodge out as a location as it has too many risks and if anything happened to us it would come under the colleges fault. It is also risky bringing all our actors in there and defiantly an 11 year old.
However, we have a possible new location on Church Lane in Horley where there is a abandoned house that has easy access for us and is safe.
Because of having no exact location yet we haven't been able to complete our anamatics however due to it not being our fault about the locations we have a week extension for filming to make the thriller opening as best as we can.
Beth and Becky are going to check out the location today to see if it is what we are looking for as a location that will be the best setting for our film.
-Megan
However, we have a possible new location on Church Lane in Horley where there is a abandoned house that has easy access for us and is safe.
Because of having no exact location yet we haven't been able to complete our anamatics however due to it not being our fault about the locations we have a week extension for filming to make the thriller opening as best as we can.
Beth and Becky are going to check out the location today to see if it is what we are looking for as a location that will be the best setting for our film.
-Megan
Friday, 28 February 2014
Police Raid
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| Police Raid Outfits |
- For one of our scenes we have a police raid on Martlet Lodge where around 5 policemen/woman barge into the house, finding Graham Harvey in the mental asylum and taking him out.
In this picture it shows a police raid where the police are wearing all black. We won't be using riot shields or helmets as props as we aren't trying to create a violent police raid as Mr Harvey won't have any weapons on him in Martlet Lodge.
We will need to have our characters wearing dark black clothing and big black boots if possible, however we can't expect all our actors to own this type of clothing so we are going to have to get the costumes as close as we can in this short period of time we have for them to be filmed.
Here in a video of an actual police raid. We won't be able to use items to break through windows in our location as it isn't owned by us so we will need to have the shot of the scene showing medium close up's from behind the police officers so we can't see any damage being caused to the building however the audience will get the feeling that this is what is actually happening.
The scene of the police raid won't be very long, they'll be walking in to find Graham sitting on his old patient bed smiling to himself. In this scene we will be using tracking shots to follow the 'police' through the building and up the stairs until they find Graham without showing shots of their faces.
-Megan
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Risk assessment on Martlet Lodge
Martlet lodge has a lot of risks that will need to be checked out before filming can take place.
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| Martlet Lodge |
The first risk is getting across the fence, this involves climbing through a hole without getting any splinters, long trousers and jumpers will need to be worn. These clothing items are essential as we will be around a lot of stinging nettles before we make it to the back of the house. At the back of the house we will need to climb through a window without glass. Loose glass could be sticking out of the window and therefore we need to be very careful, and defiantly with looking after an 11 year old while in the building. Wearing a pair of gloves may be an idea.
There is glass on the floor on the ground floor due to smashed windows which have now been boarded up, safe shoes need to be worn so that glass can't go through the bottom of them, leather shoes would be most advisable.
The ceiling has many holes in where the boards have fallen down, there is a very low chance of any more boards falling out but we'd need to be wary about where the ceiling looks worse as if some ceiling came down on our heads it could be very damaging. This is a risk concerning both floors of the building however the first floor ceiling seems much more secure than the lower floor ceiling.
The floor is very uneven in certain places so we need to be careful where we are treading as not to trip over anything. The floorboards are all in place however the ground floor is full of old loose wooden panels that scatter the floor. Also, as the building hasn't been cleared out since it's closure in 2007 many old tables and chaires are starting to rot away and broken pieces of furniture fill quite a lot of the spaces. In the kitchen and the old clinic the floor has no floorboards and is very muddy underneath which is quite sticky mud so we need to be careful where we are treading when around these areas.
The old clinic is still full of medical equipment like syringes and needles so we need to be careful not to touch these in the unlikely case of contracting any illness or diseases.
Some parts of the building are very dark due to wood being used to board up some windows that are broken so we need to make sure we bring torches and also have the right lighting equipment for our film so it won't be in complete darkness.
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| Stairs |
Even though the electricity has been turned off in the building we need to be careful around the mains electricity box and around loose wires that have been cut to stop electricity passing through as they can be dangerous if there is any high voltage around any open wires. However, in an outside workshop room the electricity has been rewired so the lights and heating now works in there, this may have been a room that the builders used while they were closing down the building.
Seeing as we are entering the building, people before and after us will have too so it'll be advisable for us to walk around in groups of 2 in the unlikely event there is someone else in there as it's a perfect place for squatters to go due to the beds and is quite warm. However, I've been in there many times and I have come across no one else in there before.
We need to be careful when transporting our camera, tripod and lighting equipment into the building and around it so it doesn't get broken. We will need to find a spot to place the tripod where the floor is flat and there's no worry that it'll fall over at any point.
As a lot of patients old documents are still in there we need to be careful to get none of there personal information in shots by accident as it is a breach of their privacy as we have no permission.
We can't take anything from the building as it's not ours and is illegal to do so, everything should be kept where we found it or if moved, placed back as soon as we are done.
-Megan
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